Safety Alert! ESCAPEComputer use can be monitored and is impossible to completely
clear. If you are in danger, please use a safer computer, call
your local hotline and/or call the National
Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE).

It usually starts
with verbal abuse. Mean words and insults can hurt as much as sticks and
stones.

The verbal abuse may
take place in public – in front of your friends, your family, and others.

A teenage male may
insist that guys are always in charge, always call the shots.

It’s the way
things are supposed to be.

There may be threats
– “If you don’t do what I say, I’ll . . . .”

Prized personal
possessions may be damaged, destroyed or may disappear.

The violence may get
physical – slapping, hitting and more.

There may be sexual
violence – unwanted sexual advances and even date rape.

Studies
Document Incidence of Violence in Teen Dating RelationshipsBack to topTwo
recent studies document that many U.S. teenagers experience violence in
their dating relationships.Liz
Claiborne, Inc. & the Empower Program (Washington, D.C.)Based on interviews with
teenagers ranging in age from 14 through 17, researchers learned that 30% of
teenage girls can identify another teenager who was physically abused by a
boyfriend or girlfriend.
Aside from the physical abuse, teens also experience other forms of abuse,
such as verbal abuse, isolation from friends, being monitored as to what
they’re doing and where they’re going, and even control regarding their
choice of clothing.More on Liz Claiborne Teen Dating
Violence ProgramMassachusetts Youth Risk Behavior SurveyOne in
five female high school students in the study admitted to being physically
or sexually abused by her boyfriend.
Teen
violence is often associated with the use of tobacco, substance abuse,
unhealthy weight control, risky sexual behavior (multiple sexual partners,
unprotected sex), sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy and suicide
attempts.

Abusers typically isolate victims –
by limiting their activity out of the home, by denying them resources of
cash and transportation and by creating a wedge between victims and their
families and friends.

Victims in rural Ohio may
have the benefit of wide open spaces and a breathtaking view of the hills
and the sunset, but no one to hear them cry or see the bruises after
violence has broken the silence.

Victims in rural Ohio may
face extra risks because the abuser may be a hunter and have guns and rifles
in the home.

Victims in rural Ohio may
be suffering more than their city cousins from the economic downturn. The
abuser or victim may be laid off from a job. There may be only one vehicle
to be shared.

Victims in rural Ohio may
not often have the chance to meet a neighbor, a friend or a family member.
Often abusers refuse to participate in family reunions or routine social
gatherings and prevent victims from doing so as well.

Everyone knows everyone in
rural Ohio. Everyone’s related to everyone in rural Ohio. Who could a victim
trust? Maybe the victim is the newcomer and the abuser is everyone’s old
friend.

There are fewer services
available in rural Ohio – fewer doctors, fewer dentists, fewer counselors,
and fewer agencies to offer intervention from abuse.